The Codes and Judicial Committee, a committee of the University Assembly, will be voting on changes to the campus code of conduct this week. Although students will have an opportunity to voice their opinion through public comments in the future, the changes made this week will fundamentally alter the discussion about the rights for students in the conduct process moving forward. Student support in favor of the following petition will be provided to members of the CJC to aid their decision making process:


Statement Against Proposal to Deny the Accused Vocal Representation at Hearings
The students at Cornell University resoundingly reject the OJA’s proposal to force students to vocally represent themselves in code of conduct hearings, rather than allowing law school student advisors to advocate on their behalf. Under the new proposal, students facing charges will be forced to cross-examine witnesses themselves, and forced to give their own opening and closing statements.

This proposed change neglects serious mental health concerns on campus. Many students who are charged by the JA are 18 or 19 years old. Being referred to the JA has the tendency to make students anxious, and on top of being responsible for their classwork, students are often stressed by the prospect of future marks being imposed on their transcripts or disciplinary records. The proposed change will add additional stress and anxiety on top of that, and will be deleterious to students’ mental health.

By being forced to vocally represent themselves in hearings, students will be in the uncomfortable position of cross-examining authority figures, including members of law enforcement and their RAs. Students may also be nervous to give their own opening and closing statements in front of the OJA and the hearing panel members. This anxiety may have a chilling effect, and will pressure students who are otherwise innocent to plead responsible before the hearing.

This change also favors students who come from privileged backgrounds. Students with early exposure to public speaking and debate programs will excel in this environment, while students who were denied the ability to participate in these opportunities prior to college will be disparately impacted. Further, because stereotypes have painted historically privileged groups such as white males as “ideal speakers” in our society, these changes will also disparately impact historically marginalized groups such as women and students of color.


Statement Against Proposal to Deny the Accused the Right to Cross-Examine Witnesses
The students at Cornell University also resoundingly reject the OJA’s proposal to deprive students the right to cross-examine the JA’s witnesses in hearings. Because this proposal only applies to code of conduct violations, and not sexual assault allegations, “accusers” will typically be members of law enforcement and RAs.

This change will deny students and their advisors the right to ask clarifying questions to the JA’s witnesses. Without this right, a student’s ability to make their case will be seriously hampered, and will allow the hearing panel to hear only one side of the story. Further, if hearing panel members are the only parties allowed to ask questions of the witnesses, students will be unable to ask questions that are relevant to their side of the story, and will be blocked from immediately asking follow-up questions based on a witness’ answer.

Because of the concerns stated above, we urge you to vote against these measures.